Guitar Rig, Amplitube, Logic 9 amps, Rock Amp Legends... what amp modeler is really the best?

[lagavulin16]

I may have left out a few, but these are the ones I've used or done research on. It sounds like most people say Amplitube is the best, though I know it's subjective. With Logic 9 still relatively new, GR4 having just come out, and the promotions for Amplitube and Nomad right now, I thought it would be a good time to ask: What's your favorite, and what aspects do you think these do well and not so well?

[Hink]

the best ones will inevitably be the ones you don't buy

[lagavulin16]

the best ones will inevitably be the ones you don't buy

That's why I'm asking... trying to avoid buying them all!

[Chickenman]

It depends on what sounds you want.


Green Machine 2 is free so grab that for a start.

Guitar rig 4 has lots of effects and sounds a heap better now, between the 2 you would have most everything you could use.

If you have enough cash, springing for a gt10 or something similar gives you good sound and good options.


Overloud from TH1 is damn good and has a built in IR cabinet, means you can keep presets with custom IR's.

If I went back and only had the cash for one I would probably get Green Machine(for free) and spend the cash on a tasty mic/preamp etc - it's more than good enough as a workhorse guitar processor.

[lagavulin16]

It depends on what sounds you want.


Green Machine 2 is free so grab that for a start.

Guitar rig 4 has lots of effects and sounds a heap better now, between the 2 you would have most everything you could use.

If you have enough cash, springing for a gt10 or something similar gives you good sound and good options.


Overloud from TH1 is damn good and has a built in IR cabinet, means you can keep presets with custom IR's.

If I went back and only had the cash for one I would probably get Green Machine(for free) and spend the cash on a tasty mic/preamp etc - it's more than good enough as a workhorse guitar processor.

What are your thoughts on Amplitube? I tend to hear that it lags behind GR3/4 in everything except sound. I'm just wondering if I should buy it and it might let me get closer to the sound I'm after, or if I'm just not capable enough with GR3 (which I love to use as effects on synths BTW).

[chj]

Demo, demo, demo. It's the only right answer. Amplitube, Guitar Rig, Revalver, Overloud all have demos. You can demo Pod if you have an Ilok. Download the demos, play with them extensively. Find out which you like best.

[MountainKing]

My recommendation is always:

"Go for the small version of the different amp sims!" .... since too much options aren't good for a "fast" workflow. Less is sometimes (most often) more!

I got:

- AT X-Gear with AT Live 2 and AT Fender SE integrated .... way enough option for me.

- Guitar Rig 3 XE (maybe upgrading to GR 4 Essential ...but I have tested the Control Room of the full version as well and this one is REALLY good).

- Waves GTR Solo

- POD Farm with some add ons.

- I will get VANDAL SE (Magix) with the next update ptach for Samplitude 11


- Maybe I will go for TH-1 Triode (by Overloud). TH-1 is very good especially for Hi Gain sounds.


So isn't that enough? Probably it is.



So, with only the stripped down versions at hand one may get faster to results than otherwise when you're tweaking and tweaking and tweaking the big ones never getting to an end.

I have to admit of course that even the smaller ones deliver a large amount of tweakybility .... unfortunately.



Jens

[Agreed]

I have access to all of them (check my blog for a full list, pretty sure it's up to date). I use different tools for different purposes. When I'm going for a relatively straightforward guitar sound and the absolute focus is the quality and realism of the guitar amp tone, I use Amplitube X-Gear. Overloud's TH1 is a great sim, too, its best amps rival any other brand's best amps for sound quality and the effects compliment is really great. Guitar Rig 3 was the first modeler I ever really got into but I quickly abandoned its amps as garbage and just used it for its (great, top of the line) effects. Now Guitar Rig 4 is out and the amps are much improved, while the effects are still awesome and top-of-the-line; it's moved up several rungs on the ladder with this release, for sure, and I can see myself reaching for it sometimes instead of my standard when I want a somewhat more effected or ambient sound.

Guitar Rig 4 and TH1 are both great at textured, ambient tones... To me Overloud TH1 is sort of a hybrid between Amplitube 2 and Guitar Rig, in a lot of ways; the user interface seems quite inspired by Amplitube 2's signal flow, in fact before patch 1.1 the amplifier choices themselves were eerily similar to Amplitube 2, sort of how Breverb seems to be awfully close to CSR. Something in the water in Modena, Italy? Hmm... But I digress. So TH1 takes the Guitar Rig idea of full modularity and lots of sophisticated effects and routing options, but with Amplitube's intuitive signal path, we as guitarists understand that these components go into these ones and on into those ones and so on. Where Guitar Rig is a rack, TH1 is a chain, with some parallel options reminiscent of Amplitube 2 and so on but handled with a mixer. That's the benefit of hindsight, IKMM has had their cards on the table with their user interface for many years now. I personally can't wait to see whenever they finally get to make a new interface, I think it will put them in the position that Overloud was in before. This has become more of a tangent than intended-

Waves GTR has a shiny, produced sound right out of the box. As such it is easy to mix and can sound quite professional without a great deal of attention to it. This is not, however, something you can undo, so you better like GTR's idea of a well produced sound. The upside is, you probably will, it has an impressive quality to it that does indeed sound professional and well packaged. Also the effects are quite nice, Waves is after all a company who are very competent in that regard. I haven't done much to feature GTR 3 full on my blog yet, but I will; next week very well may be GTR 3 week, on the heels of Guitar Rig 4 week that I'm doing now.

ReValver MkIII sounds great, definitely some high quality physical modeling of the innards of an amp going on in that software, and the fact that it exposes its underbelly to you to tweak it however you want is either a dream or a nightmare depending on how well you understand the principles involved and how quickly you can learn its interface. It has been very unfortunately undersupported since its release, and there remain bugs that should have been fixed a long time ago. But the sound engine itself is great. If those bugs could be lined out, and if the arcane workings of the software were better documented (seriously, you can do SO MUCH in ReValver MkIII but it doesn't tell you what a quarter of it means, so either you understand a lot about amps and how changing various filters, components, etc. will change the amp or you don't and all that flexibility is then useless), it would be one of the strongest contenders. It would be shame for that potential to be wasted, but...

Pod Farm from Line6 gives you the Pod X3 on your computer. What you think of that will depend on how you find the Pod X3. There are some limitations to it that don't make sense in software and seem to be tied to its hardware. Why should I only get one distortion pedal? Guitar Rig, Amplitube, TH1, GTR, ReValver give me either many pedal slots, I could fill them all with Fuzz Faces if I wanted to, or unlimited modules so if I really wanted to I could make a chain of dozens of Fuzz Faces for a really awful sound. Okay, maybe not a good example, but how about two TubeScreamers or other lower gain overdrives in a row? How about two Fuzz Faces or other characteristic fuzzes in a row? How about an Overdrive into a Distortion pedal? I do this kind of thing in the physical world all the time for some really lovely sounds, and it translates quite well to modeling software. But I can't do that in Pod Farm, not because my computer can't handle it, but because you can't do it in the Pod X3. Same goes with amps and other things, one component of any type at a time. A limitation that doesn't jive with the software world. So, again, Pod Farm gives you a Pod X3 for your virtual studio. If you dig the X3, you'll dig Pod Farm. There are good tones to be had in it, I promise, and you have many, many models at your disposal to find your sound - but its interface is limited in significant ways and I would be remiss if I did not mention them.

Marc Gallo - Studio Devil - is a bit of an underdog, without the flashy GUI that the other companies provide. But he can program amps and effects really well. His most recent product, Amp Modeler Pro, has some really great tones in it and costs about the same as some other companies' limited versions. Some people will find his "everything on one screen" GUI both intimidating and unintuitive, others will see it as efficient and handy. I tend toward the latter but I have broad experience with all these programs and it's a skill you learn like any other so I don't expect that my appreciation for the change-anything-at-a-glance GUI to be universal. His software has a learning curve that is not helped by the presets being somewhat less than useful in many cases. They're usually too loud and they usually don't really show the program at its best. Which is a shame, because Amp Modeler Pro can do a great deal. It is a highly flexible, quite authentic amp modeler that also includes Marc Gallo's considerable effects coding skills being put to good use for the first time under his own brand name. I recommend a demo, and take the time to get to know it - the fact that it is his flagship product and costs at least $100 less than any other company's flagship product while offering comparable sound quality is significant, GUI quirks (or, if you prefer, charm?) aside.

I've probably left some out, and I've probably gone on too long, at any rate, there's some thoughts on the lot of them having had a lot of hours using them.

[lagavulin16]

I greatly appreciate the write ups... I seem to be in a state (between GR3 and Logic 9) where I have a ton of various sounds and styles that aren't that great. Some are good, some are awful, most fall somewhere in between.

I really want a GREAT clean guitar tone. A GREAT clean bass tone. And hopefully a great distorted tone for guitar as well.

I guess what I'm saying is instead of having 1000 pretty good tones I'd settle for 5 great ones. What type? I actually want something middle of the road. Nothing too metal, nothing too jazzy, no extremes. Just the kind of tone you get when you plug a 70s telecaster into a 70s amp. I have plenty of virtual stomp boxes and GR3 to take care of the rest.

I downloaded the demos of amplitube fender and SVX, will try them and let you know my thoughts.

[Krakatau]

I have to admit of course that even the smaller ones deliver a large amount of tweakybility .... unfortunately.

you have some words really full of wisdom concerning a pernicious aspect of the vertiginous evolution of overall virtual audio market, to be eventually considered as a little lesson of humility

[zerocrossing]

If good basic guitar amp sound it what you crave, in my opinion Amplitube does it best, but if you want their best bass amp model you'll have to get SVX. Nothing else comes close. Then for clean sound... probably Amplitube Fender is your best bet or Amplitube 2.

But as has been said: try the demos and make the choice yourself.

[zabukowski]

Peavey Revalver MKIII - absolute winner regarding real amp feeling, raw amp simulations, reamping etc.

Overloud TH-1 - great ampsim with many superb "ready to use" produced sounds and FX

NI Guitar Rig - one the best GUIs, excellent FX, very good amps, real "creativity" tool.

I own Amplitube Fender and Jimi Hendrix, also - 1st class, but very specific.

Regards
Zabukowski

[lagavulin16]

Do any of you know off hand which fender amps GR3 is based on?

Specifically the "Tweed Delight" and "Tweedman". I'm trying to do a head to head competition and I'm not sure which are which. I'm assuming one is the '57 Deluxe. Also, what is the "Twang" based on? I'll keep googling and see if I can find a list.

I can say this much - Amplitube is actually sounding a lot better than I thought it would. Comparing the GR3 Tweedman or Tweed Delight to the '57 Deluxe isn't much of a contest. GR4 may be another story.

Considering you can get Amplitube Fender for 169, SVX for free, and then probably either Hendrix or Metal for free (if not both by the time the group buy is done) I may have to just go ahead and pull the trigger.

[buscemi]

Considering you can get Amplitube Fender for 169, SVX for free, and then probably either Hendrix or Metal for free (if not both by the time the group buy is done) I may have to just go ahead and pull the trigger.

If you are looking for great clean sounds and great bass sounds, then I think you hit the nail on the head there. It does fit right into the promo too. What you lay out gets you exactly what you want:
Fender - marvelous clean sounds you seek.
SVX - great bass sounds, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Hendrix should be the other choice if you want my opinion - there are some excellent cleans in there too. Though I have said frequently that Metal is often what I reach for first even though I don't play metal. More for distorted sounds, though, in my use.

[lagavulin16]

Considering you can get Amplitube Fender for 169, SVX for free, and then probably either Hendrix or Metal for free (if not both by the time the group buy is done) I may have to just go ahead and pull the trigger.

If you are looking for great clean sounds and great bass sounds, then I think you hit the nail on the head there. It does fit right into the promo too. What you lay out gets you exactly what you want:
Fender - marvelous clean sounds you seek.
SVX - great bass sounds, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Hendrix should be the other choice if you want my opinion - there are some excellent cleans in there too. Though I have said frequently that Metal is often what I reach for first even though I don't play metal. More for distorted sounds, though, in my use.

I do need some distorted sounds as well - though I must say the Amplitube Fender has been giving me a few that I like quite a bit! I'll keep my fingers crossed that the group buy becomes a 4X1. I've heard a lot of good things about the Hendrix one.

I have to hand it to IK (though to be fair I'm comparing to GT3) - I really think they're a cut above NI on this one.